Scotland Yard requires dialogue with media

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has accepted that its relationship with the press has fallen below expected standards at times, but defended the need for a dialogue between the two sectors, reports The Guardian.

Representing the police in Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry into press standards, Neil Garnham QC said that progress can only be made by recognising the mistakes of the past and there have been times when errors have been made.

For people in the media jobs London has to offer, the good news is that Mr Garnham believes interaction between the police and press is “critical” for a democratic society, since it ensures fair reporting as well as effective reporting.

However, he stated: “We acknowledge that not all of the MSP’s relationships with the press in the past have met the test of being both ethical and transparent.”

According to Press Gazette, National Union of Journalists general secretary Michelle Stanistreet told the inquiry that a lack of resources may have prompted some members of the press to take shortcuts and contravene their ethical principles.

She said investigative journalists have become something of an endangered species due to the amount of time it takes to research such stories, while much of what is released by newspapers is sourced from agency copy or press releases.